YES PM: Years of Experience in Strategies for Peace Making

From the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords in September 2000 to the eruption of Al Aqsa intifada in September 2000, the international community allocated an estimated $20–25 million for people-to-people (P2P) projects. Since September 2000, almost all P2P projects came to a halt. Many people have asked why this had to happen? Why did the P2P projects cease to work when they were needed the most? Why did the P2P projects fail to produce the desired goals? How could P2P projects have greater impact? Why are some activities continuing, while others have ceased? This article will attempt to deal with these questions. It is based on a research project that involved Israeli and Palestinian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and Civil Society institutions; Israeli, Palestinian, and international academics; and other expert conflict resolution and conflict prevention practitioners. A joint team of Israeli and Palestinian researchers was appointed to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the P2P process; two workshops were held to conduct subjective analyses of the P2P process from its start until today. An interactive web site was also produced, and some 40 interviews were conducted with initiators and implementers of P2P projects. We present here the findings of this study.     

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Depression in Battered Women: The Mediating Role of Learned Helplessness

Learned helplessness (LH) may mediate the link between violence exposure and mental disorders in battered women. This study evaluated the contribution of LH to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and major depression (MDD) in women with prolonged exposure to partner violence in 101 residents of shelters for battered women in Israel. DSM-IV axis-I disorders were assessed by a structured clinical interview. Self-report questionnaires evaluated exposure to violence, symptoms of PTSD and depression, LH, history of child abuse, SES and the extent of male-dominance and prejudice against women in the participants prior socialization background. LH significantly mediated the effect of violence on PTSD and depression symptoms. Male-dominated background contributed to LH. Thus, LH may increase the risk of mental disorders in battered women and should be addressed in interventions designed to reduce the burden of mental illness in this population.     

Prevalence of sexual abuse in organised competitive sport in Australia

Abstract

This article reports the first phase of a three-phase research programme investigating the prevalence and long-term sequelae associated with sexual abuse in a non-psychiatric sample of male and female Australian athletes. A cross-sectional, retrospective design, using a mailed survey, provided a quantitative assessment of sexual abuse prevalence in a national sample of elite athletes and a regional sample of club athletes. Results from the total sample (n = 370) revealed that 31% of female and 21% of male athletes reported experiencing sexual abuse at some time in their lives. Of these, 41% of females, and 29% of males had been sexually abused within the sports environment. It was also found that almost half, 46.4%, of the elite group reporting sexual abuse had been sexually abused by sports personnel. For the club group, this figure was 25.6%. Implications of these results and current initiatives for the prevention of sexual abuse of athletes in Australia are discussed.     

Unacademic academics: Holocaust deniers and trivializers in post-Communist Romania

The Romanian Academy (and much of the country's historical establishment) is packed with Holocaust deniers and trivializers, many of whom indulge in Holocaust obfuscation against the background of the post-Communist “competitive martyrdom” between the victims of the Holocaust and the Gulag. Quite a few of these deniers and trivializers are also former secret police informers. On closer examination, however, it turns out that explaining the reluctance to face the country's “dark past” as being the independent variable resultant of the post “Romanianization” of the Communist Party and its Securitate is a partial explanation at best. A substantially more convincing one might be provided by scrutinizing the phenomenon as the product of post-mnemonic cultural traumas.